If you're not familiar with Nippon Ichi Software's long-running Disgaea series of tactical-strategy RPGs, you might want to take a moment to look into them. For the TLDR crowd, think Final Fantasy Tactics, set in the Netherworld, with combo attacks, and virtually no level cap. The main character of the first game (and still likely the most recognizable and iconic character of the series) is Laharl, Overlord of the Netherworld, a bratty kid who was woken from his centuries-long "nap" to deal with a threat against his throne. Hilarity ensues.

So, this game is a favorite of my buddy Raven (why yes, he is Goth AF, why do you ask? *snerk!*), and he has been requesting that I make him a Laharl figure for years now. I've mostly been stalling because I was never sure what figures to make him out of. Laharl is, after all, a scrawny whelp who only wears a red scarf, shorts, and sneakers. What toy matches that description?

Then, early this year, I first laid hands on the new Star Wars Black Series "A New Hope" Luke Skywalker figure. And boy, did Hasbro sculpt him lookin' like a wimp! (They also molded him a whole new head that's too small, despite already having a perfect ANH Luke head on the market, from the X-Wing Luke figure . . . WTF guys?) And while pretty much NO ONE is a fan of that cloth shirt, without it, he makes a perfect template for our little teen Overlord. All I had to do was find a decent bottom half. Didn't have to look far. Scrawny legs with big red boots? DC Superhero Girls Supergirl was a perfect choice.

I cut off Luke's legs just under the thigh rotation, and attached Supergirl's legs, shortened slightly above the boots. I used some slightly oversized hands from, I think, Marvel Legends Iron Fist(?) because the art style provides the characters with rather wonky, cartoonish proportions. I fashioned an oversized red scarf from some tattered, folded felt with a long twist-tie wire hot glued down the middle to make it fully poseable. His sword is a modified ML Ares sword, and his display base is a DC Super Powers logo base from Mattel with a printed sticker of the Disgaea logo.

Everything else? ALL sculpted with Loctite epoxy putty. Belt, boot mods, cuffs, bracelets, hair, all made by hand. The goofy hair "bunny ears" are reinforced with twist-tie wires, but are not poseable at all. And of course, a second head and multiple faces. I simply couldn't find a suitable finished head from another figure to use, so I gave up and made my own. Plus, I felt early on that I wanted to get kind of ambitious with this project, so it was really the best choice.

See, I wanted this figure to not only depict a Japanese cartoon videogame character, but to also actually reflect the design principles behind many Japanese anime toys. I didn't really have multiple hands available, but I did want the figure to have multiple swappable faces, much like figures from Japanese lines like Figma or Revoltech or Figuarts. I wanted Laharl to have the option to be displayed with a variety of comic expressions from the game. To accomplish this, I actually performed some rudimentary casting. I sculpted the initial head, then carefully extracted the face section from under the hair piece, and made a relief mold using more epoxy putty. When the mold was cured, I brushed it with simple cooking oil, then filled it with putty three more times to make a total of four separate heads. Then it was a simple matter of minor resculpting to give each a different expression. Finally, I added neodymium magnets into the faces and the hair piece so they lock in place while on display. While the design isn't an EXACT match for his facial structure in the game, I think it's close enough, and the paint work makes up for the sculpt's shortcomings. In person, he looks VERY impressive. As for the rage head, obviously, an entirely new head was needed, hair and all.

He may not be a 100% perfect representation of the character, but I am SUPER pleased with how well he turned out, and my buddy is likewise thrilled! And as a bonus, just as I was finishing him up, lo and behold, this contest was announced, so hey, great timing!